A popular genre of computer games is the one where a player character controlled by the user moves within a game environment, continuously interacting with the structural elements disposed in the environment, e.g., bridges, rivers, hills, etc. In addition, the player character may be involved in a fight with an enemy character, trying to avoid being hit by projectiles thrown by the enemy character, or attempting to escape to a safe location away from the enemy character.
For example, one of the most famous fictional characters in video games, Mario, created by Nintendo, has appeared in over 200 video games since his creation. Mario originally appeared in platform games, starting with Donkey Kong, but currently appears in various video games genres, such as racing, puzzles, role-playing, fighting and sports. In most of these games, Mario is shown navigating through a game environment, constantly avoiding enemies, e.g., Donkey Kong, while climbing hills, jumping from buildings, or running through the busy streets of New York.
Even though the user enjoys the continuously changing game environment as the player character moves in the game space, the user is limited in his/her options in negotiating the various features of the game terrain the player character is currently traversing. For example, if the player character needs to go from a point A to a point B, the player character has to use the terrain features that are available, for example, a bridge, or a certain road. Moreover, if there is no available pathway to get to point B, the player character will have to follow a detour in the game space, which may cause loss in elapsed travel time resulting in reduced game score or even cause infliction of damage by the player character's enemy.
Thus, it would be beneficial to provide the user with means to modify the game environment by inserting various structural elements that can be used by the player character to achieve his/her goal, e.g., get to a certain point quicker, avoid a thrown projectile, or hide from the enemy. The insertion of the structural elements should be possible in real time in direct response to the path undertaken by the player character and in response to the interaction of the player character with all other elements and game characters in the game environment.
In one exemplary illustrative non-limiting implementation, the user modifies the displayed game space environment by selecting a block element on the display screen by using an input device, e.g., a stylus. Subsequently, the user drags the input device from the location of the first block element towards the location of a second block element of the same type. After release of the input device from the display screen by the user, a structural element corresponding to the type of the first and second block elements is formed between the first and second block elements. This structural element becomes part of the game environment and the user can incorporate it in his/her game.
In yet another exemplary illustrative non-limiting implementation, different types of structural elements inserted by the user may be combined within a specific game environment, as they interact with various player characters, to provide a variety in the scope of the game.